Dryer for fabrics and the like



Feb. 24, 1970 R. FREzzA 3595647 DRYER Fon FBRIGS m THE LIKE FiledIlarch 1. 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 66 /g /4 lNvEN on 1 @awr fea THE M'Z/ATTOR YS Feb. 24, 1970 R. 'FREzzA nnrm'pon FABRICS AND THE LIKE NVENTOR@bef-r Fre) a ATTORN S United States Patent O 3,496,647 DRYER FORFABRICS AND THE LIKE Robert Frezza, Carle Place, N.Y., assignor toSameoe Holding Corporation, Woodside, N.Y., a corporation of New YorkFiled Mar. 1, 1968, Ser. No. 709,567 Int. Cl. F26h 3/04, .I3/08 U.S. Cl.34-115 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present inventionrelates to the processing of fabrics, and is directed more particularlyto the provision of an improved facility for drying fabrics, in singleor multiple webs, in a fully relaxed and tension free manner, and in amanner that will assure not only uniform drying but also a uniform rateof drying across all portions of the width of the fabric as itprogresses through the drying operation. The invention is particularlyapplicable to the treatment of knitted fabrics, but is not limitedthereto. It is also useful in heat setting and curing processes, as wellas drying, and drying shall be used herein in a broader context, toinclude the additional processes.

RELATED INVENTIONS The apparatus of the present invention incorporatesprinciples described and claimed in the S. Cohn et al. U.S. Patents No.3,065,551 and 3,102,006, but represents a specic improvement thereover,particularly with reference to the more expeditious and effectivehandling and treating of multiple webs of material.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In general, the dryers of thebeforementioned S. Cohn et al. patents are so-called reel dryers, inwhich one or more large diameter reels are supported within a dryerhousing and are arranged to support and convey one r more fabric websduring the drying process. The reels are closely embraced by airchambers, containing air under pressure, and this air is dischargedradially toward and through the perforate walls of the dryer reels,through narrow nozzles which extend across the width of the dryer reels.Air is thus discharged toward the reels in discrete, high velocitystreams, which are relatively closely spaced. The high velocity airpasses through the surface of the dryer reels, and of course through anyfabric supported thereon, and is withdrawn axially from both ends of thereels. Desirably, the dryer housing includes greatly enlarged endchambers communicating with the opposite ends of the dryer reels sothat, in conjunction with the rather large diameter of the reelsthemselves, a free and uniform How of air from the ends of the dryerreels is accommodated, permitting optimum uniformity of air flow throughthe fabric webs.

Inasmuch as the dryer system of the invention involves directingdiscrete, high velocity streams of drying air under pressure toward thedryer reels, as critically distinguished from dryer systems in which airis literally sucked into the interior of the dryer reel by themaintenance of low pressure conditions therein, there is some tendencyfor the pressurized air within the narrow annular space between thedryer reels and the surrounding air chambers to flow in an axialdirection, directly into the large end chambers of the dryer housing.This arial ow is a relatively small percentage of the overall flow ofdrying air, and thus is of no particular concern when the dryerequipment is utilized for the processing of a single web of material,which is guided along the mid-line of the dryer reels. However, it isfrequently the case that a 3,496,647 Patented Feb. 24, 1970 ICCprocessor may be handling webs of fabric which are substantiallynarrower in width than the maximum capacity of the machine, in whichcase a pair of webs may be processed simultaneously in side-by-sidearrangement, and in such cases, certain difficulties may arise.

Where fabric webs are handled in side-by-side arrangement, in a dryerapparatus of the general type described above, the axial components ofair flow along the outer surfaces of the dryer reels do not actsymmetrically upon the side-by-side webs, but act in one direction onthe webs, tending to urge them axially toward the adjacent end chambers.This can create certain fabric handling problcms, particularly where, asis contemplated by the S. Cohn et al., Patent No. 3,102,006, the fabricis not stretched tightly on the dryer reel, but is applied looselythereon and caused and permitted to be worked and repositionedcontinually as it travels with the dryer reels.

It is accordingly one of the objectives of the invention to provide adryer apparatus, generally of the type disclosed in the S. Cohn et al.,U.S. Patents No. 3,065,551 and No. 3,102,006, which includesspecifically improved arrangements for the guiding and directing of airflows, to the end that the otherwise tendencies for air under pressureto flow axially into the enlarged end chambers of the dryer housing aresubstantially counteracted, enabling the system to be utilized withincreased effectiveness for the processing of multiple webs of material.

A further specific improvement provided by the invention, which is mostparticularly effective inconjunction with, although not necessarilylimited to, the abovementioned provisions for counteracting axial airHows, is the provision of improved arrangements of the dryer reelsthemselves, to accommodate working and rearranging of the fabric beingprocessed to a significantly greater degree than herebefore. In thisrespect, in order to accommodate ideal repositioning of the fabricduring the drying process, it has been proposed to coat the outersurfaces of the dryer reel with one of the well known fluorocarbonpolymers, such as Du Pont Teflon TFE, for example. However,accomplishing this has proven to be difficult and expensive, and notaltogether satisfactory. In accordance with the present invention,however, a novel and highly effective low friction surface is providedby initially constructing the dryer reel of a relatively large-size,rigid mesh material and applying over the outside of such rigid mesh asomewhat smaller mesh of woven fiber glass coated with a suitableflouorcarbon polymer material. The coated liber glass mesh is wrappedtightly about the surface of the otherwise relatively conventional dryerreel and forms an economical, yet highly effective, low frictionsurface, which provides optimum conditions for the continual working andrearranging of the fabric during drying.

As will be appreciated, the provision of a low friction fluorocarbonpolymer outer surface on the dryer reels, in a dryer utilizingpressurized high velocity streams of drying air, may tend to aggravateany tendencies for side-by-side webs to be urged toward the ends of thedryer reels. Accordingly, the low friction reel surface is utilized toparticular advantage with the air flow counteracting arrangementsheretofore described.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference should be made tothe following detailed description and to the accompanying drawing`DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional viewof a preferred form of dryer, for knitted fabrics and the like,constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views taken generally along lines 2 2and 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view illustrating a typical constructiondetail of a dryer reel incorporated in the apparatus of the invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional View taken generally along line 55 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating an overfeed reelelement incorporated in the apparatus of the invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view showing aconstruction detail of the air discharge nozzle arrangementsincorporated in the dryer apparatus of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing, thereference numeral 10 designates generally an insulated dryer housing,including front and back walls 11, 12, side walls 13, 14 and top walll5. Mounted within the housing, suitably journalled for rotation, arelarge diameter dryer reels 16, 17, which are desirably positioned oneabove the other and are arranged to be driven at controllably relatedspeeds, typically so that the dryer reel 17 may be caused to have asurface speed slightly less than that of the dryer reel 16.

As reflected in FIG. 2, the inside width of the housing, as defined bythe side walls 13, 14, is substantially greater than the axial length ofthe dryer reels. The dryer reels are symmetrically positioned within thehousing, so as to provide enlarged end chambers 18, 19 in the housing,directly opposite the ends of the dryer reels. Most advantageously, thewidth of each of the end chambers 18, 19, measured in a directionaxially of the dryer reels, is about 50% or more of the diameter of thereels. These end chambers 18, 19 desirably extend substantially the fullheight of the housing and have a dimenJ sion in the front to backdirection of the housing whicln is considerably larger than the dryerreels.

The described arrangement of the dryer reels and the! end chambers issuch that drying air, caused to ow ra-; dially into the dryer reels, inthe manner to be described, is permitted to ow axially out of both endsof the dryer reels, which are fully open at the ends, and to ow out intothe end chambers 18, 19 without causing significant distortions of thepattern of air ow into the reels, which would result in uneven dryingaction. This is generally in accordance with the beforementioned S. Cohnet al. U.S. Patent No. 3,065,551.

The dryer reels 16, 17, have their cylindrical outer walls formed of ahighly foraminous material, to accommodate the easy flow of drying airradially into the interior of the reels. Typically, an open metal meshmaterial may be utilized for the dryer reel wall construction, such asindicated at 20 in FIGS. 4 and 5. The mesh 20 may be formed of amaterial such as stainless steel, and may typically havey a mesh openingof around 1/2 inch. In addition, and as will be described further, thereadvantageously may be provided about the exterior of the mesh 20 asmaller but still highly open mesh 21 of a material having extremely lowfriction characteristics relative to the materials to be processed inthe dryer, to accommodate free adjustment and relaxation of the dryingfabric, as will be discussed further.

As indicated particularly in FIGS. l and 2, the interior of the dryerhousing 10 is provided with hot air duct means, designated generally bythe reference numeral 22, defined in part by side walls 23, 24 which aresubstantially even with the axial ends of the dryer reels 16, 17 andserve to define part of the end chambers 18, 19. The hot air duct meansare arranged to closely embrace the dryer reels 16, 17 about most (e.g.,about 270) of their circumferential extent. The circular walls 25, 26 ofthe hot air ducts, which embrace the dryer reels, are spaced very closeto the surface of the dryer reels, in relation to the principaldimensions of the dryer reels themselves. For example, in a typicaldryer apparatus having dryer reels on the order of four to six feet indiameter, the circular Walls 25, 26 may be spaced around two to threeinches from the surface of the reels, so as to provide a very narrowspace for the passage of the fabric.

The circular walls 25, 26 of the hot air duct means 22 are provided witha large plurality of air nozzles 27, which are disposed transverselywith respect to the travel of a fabric web through the dryer apparatusand extend continuously for the full width of the dryer reel. Asindicated in FIG. 7, the air nozzles advantageously may be formed bycutting through the sheet metal material of the hot air duct means andbending outward marginal portions 28, 29 of the sheet material, adjacentthe cut. This forms a narrow nozzle structure for discharging sheet-likestreams of air extending across the full width of the fabric to bedried.

Most advantageously, the nozzles 27 are spaced closely (e.g., every fewinches) about the entire active area of the hot air duct, substantiallyas reflected in FIG. l.

Air under pressure is supplied to the hot air ducts through blowers 30,31, which supply the air in sufficient quantity to enable the heated airto be discharged at high velocity (e.g., as high as 4,000 feet persecond) through the large multiplicity of nozzles 27. The arrangement issuch that the dryer reels 16, 17, and any materials supported thereby,are acted upon by a series of closely spaced, discrete high velocitystreams of air, to achieve a particularly advantageous drying action, asset forth in the S. Cohn et al. U.S. Patent No. 3,102,006. The intakesto the blowers 30, 31 are supplied with air flowing from the enlargedend chambers 18, 19 through air heaters 32, 33, through which the airmust flow in exiting from the end chambers.

In the processing of materials such as knitted fabric and tubularfabric, where the incoming, wet material is readily distortable and mayhave tensions induced therein from the manufacturing process and fromprevious processing operations, it is especially desirable to providefor overfeeding of the fabric onto the dryer reels. This assures thatthe fabric will remain free and fully relaxed at all times while on thedryer reels, so that advantageously uniform drying and flexing of thefabric may be realized, and also that lengthwise shrinkage of thefabric, which is more or less inherent in the process, is accommodatedwhile the fabric is maintained in a relaxed and overfcd condition. Tothis end, the illustrated apparatus includes a feed roll 34 journalledand suitably driven at the entry end of the apparatus, immediatelyadjacent an inlet opening 3 in the front Wall 11. A cooperating roller36 is arranged to rest upon the top of the feed roll 34, in part toprovide for more positive engagement of the incoming web 37 of fabric bythe feed roll and in part to provide an air seal to minimize outflow ofair within the housing.

Typically, the incoming web 37 passes over and about the feed roll 34,being advanced at a predetermined speed by that rall. The material,which may be a tubular knitted fabric, for example, is directed to enterthrough the inlet opening and is caused to travel through an entrypassage 38 toward the lower dryer reel 16. The entry passage 38, whichis slightly divergent in the direction of fabric travel, includes aplurality of air nozzles 39, similar in construction to the air nozzles27. These nozzles are positioned above and below the fabric web andadvantageously are directed to discharge air streams tilted slightly inthe direction of forward movement of the fabric. By this means, the airnozzles 37, which act upon the top and bottom surfaces of the fabric ina manner to keep the fabric generally centered within the entry passage,tend also to impart a slight forward motion component to the fabric, toassist its movement through the entry passage.

At the discharge end of the entry passage, there is advantagesoulyprovided a slatted overfeed reel 40 (see FIG. 6). The overfeed reeltypically may comprise a pair of plates 41 to each end supporting aplurality of widely spaced, transversely extending fabric supports orslats 42, `which may be in the form of round bars. The overfeed rcel 40and the feed roll 34 are driven to have surface speeds which are greaterthan the surface speed of the first dryer reel 16. Thus, the incomingfabric web 37 is advanced by the air nozzles 39, at a predeterminedspeed regulated by the feed roll 34, and is applied to the overfeed reel40 at a lineal rate which greater than the effective surface speed ofthe dryer reel 16.

Typically, the feed roll 34 and overfeed reel 40 may be driven at thesame surface speed. However, where desired, the feed roll may be drivenat a somewhat higher speed such that, in effect, the fabric is firstoverfed onto the overfeed reel, and then overfed onto the dryer reel.

As shown in FIG. l, in the area of the entry passage 38 which isimmediately opposite the upper portion of the overfeed reel 40, thereare provided one or more air nozzles 39 which are directed more or lessradially at the upper portion of the overfeed reel. As a result, as thefabric is fed to the reel 40, the fabric is urged by the downwardlyprojected air streams to dispose itself in shallow loops, between theslats 42. The thus disposed fabric is then advanced around by theoverfeed reel and deposited on the surface of the first dryer reel 16.The overfeed reel is located immediately adjacent the dyer reel 16, sothat the incoming fabric can be transferred directly from the overfeedreel to the dryer reel.

One or more air nozzles 27 may be positioned at the end of the passage38, arranged to direct air ows somewhat tangentially into the entry endof the space between the dryer reel and the embracing surface 25, Thisfacilitates initial entry of the fabric into the zone of higher airlpressure.

The described arrangements assure a substantially positive overfeedadvancement of the fabric onto the surface of the dryer reel 16 with auniformly distributed condition. With the fabric thus distributed, it isacted upon intermittently by the succession of high velocity airstreams, as the dryer reels convey the fabric. This enables the fabricto be repeatedly fluttered" and rearranged on the dryer reel surfacematerial 21, while simultaneously being progressively and uniformlydried.

After traveling with the first dryer reel 16, over an arc ofapproximately 279, the fabric travels through a transfer passage 43,which includes a plurality of air nozzles 44, constructed as previouslydescribed, which act from opposite sides upon both surfaces of thefabric and irnpart thereto a slight forward motion component, to causethe fabric to advance onto the surface of the second dryer reel 17, forfurther drying by a large plurality of air nozzles 27 disposed about acicular wall 26 of the hot air duct. Desirably, while the dryer reel 16may have a surface speed which is somewhat less than the effectivesurface speed of the overfeed reel 40, the second dryer reel 17 isdriven through a P.I.V. drive or the like, to have a surface speedslightly lower than that of the dryer reel 16. The speed reduction ofthe second dryer reel 17 should be such as to accommodate shrinkage inthe fabric occurring in its travel on the first dryer reel 16, and toprovide for overfeeding of the fabric onto the surface of the secondreel 17. In this manner, the fabric may continue to be tiuttered andrearranged while traveling with the reel 17, and further shrinkage ofthe fabric in a lengthwise direction may be accommodated whilecontinuing to maintain the fabric in a fully relaxed condition.

After being conveyed by the second dryer reel 17 through an arc ofaround 270, the fabric passes over a guide roller 4S and is advancedthrough an outlet or discharge passage 46 by means of air streamsdirected at opposite sides of the fabric and imparting a slight forwardmotion component thereto. Typically, the fabric then is directed betweena pair of sealing rolls 47, passed through a cooling passage 48 and thenremoved from the machine for further handling and processing,

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, an advantageousprovision is made for minimizing friction on the surfaces of the dryerreels, so that, among other things, the fabric is permitted to adjustand reposition itself during the treatment, as a result of therelaxation shrinkage which normally tends to occur, and also as a resultof the action of the discrete, high velocity air jets on the movingfabric. Whereas it has been proposed, heretofore, to provide Teflon orsimilar coatings on the surfaces of the dryer reels themselves, suchproposals have not met with significant success, partly because of thesubstantial difficulty and expense of forming the desired surfacecoating. In accordance with the present invention, however, theprincipal structural surface of the dryer reel is formed of a rigidmetal mesh, and a resin-coated fabric-like mesh material is wrappedabout the outside of this structural surface and is secured thereto toprovide a wholly effective, low cost surface having the desiredfriction-free characteristics. In the illustrated apparatus, thestructural Wall of the dryer reel is formed of a stainless steel wiremesh material, having a. mesh opening of about 1/2 inch, and theresin-coated mesh material 21, which is wrapped around the outer surfaceof the reel, desirably has openings of about 1A inch.

In accordance with the invention, the woven mesh material 21 is an openweave ber glass fabric, which is coated with a uorocarbon resin havingthe desired low friction characteristics and resistance to servicetemperatures. A particularly advantageous fluorocarbon resin is apolytetrafluoroethylene polymer resin, as made available by E. I. duPont de Nemours and Company, Inc., Wilmington, Del., under their tradedesignation Teon, PTFE. Fiber glass is an especially advantageous basematerial for the low friction surface, because of its immunity to theservice conditions and its relatively high strength. The coated fiberglass material is obtainable at low cost and is easily installed byattachment to the principal structural mesh 20 of the dryer reel.

When handling single fabric webs, it is conventional to dispose thefabric centrally with respect to the ends of the dryer reels 16, 17, toassure optimum balance of the air tiow conditions. In many instances,however, it is desirable and advantageous to process more than onefabric web at a time, as where the width of the fabric is small inrelation to the ,overall width of the dryer reel. As indicated in FIG.2, for example, a pair of fabric Webs may be processed simultaneously,in a side-by-side manner by running the separate webs near the ends ofthe dryer reels.

Because of the high pressure (as distinguished from suction) conditions,created in the space between the duct walls 25, 26 and the dryer reels16, 17 through the utiliza tion of high velocity, discrete air jetsdirected radially a't the dryer reel surfaces, there is an inherenttendency for some air to ow axially out of the annular spacessurrounding the dryer reels, in the regions thereof immediately adjacentthe end chambers 18, 19. In other words, while the air flow ideallywould be limited to radial flow through the fabric and the mesh material20, 21, the close adjacency of high and low pressure conditions in theimmediate vicinity of the end chambers 18, 19 tends to result in some ofthe air flowing axially directly into the end chambers. Where this ispermitted to occur, there is a tendency to urge asymmetricallypositioned fabric webs axially toward the ends of the dryer reels, andthis tendency is increased with narrower webs, which are processed closeto the end of the reel, and with the use of a low friction coveringmaterial 21.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, small air-deliectingcaps 49 are provided at the end extremities of the air nozzles 27 (seeFIG. 7) to overcome the tendency of the air fiows to shift the websaxially, when processing more than one web at a time, The caps 49 mayextend inward for two or three inches from the end extremities of thenozzles 27 and serve to close off the ends of the nozzle 27, by means ofend walls 50. In addition, the caps 49 have outer walls 51, which closeoff the outer two or three inches of the air nozzles 27, except for aplurality of smaller control air openings formed by bending out aplurality of detlecting tabs 52. The deecting tabs 52 may be bent out atan angle of, say 45, causing a small percentage of the air to bedeflected axially inward from the end extremities of the air nozzles.This axially inward flow serves to counteract the otherwise tendency forthe air to flow axially outward at the end extremities of the dryerreels, so that a suitably balanced condition of the air flows ismaintained for eflicient processing of multiple webs on a side-by-sidebasis, As will be understood, the aindcecting caps cover only a smallportion of the overall nozzle width, e.g., two or three inches at eachend of a nozzle having an overall width of six feet or more.

As will be undestood, in connection with the various nozzles 27 disposedabout the circumference of the dryer reels 16, 17, the high velocity airjets are directed at the fabric and at the reel surfaces, which aregenerally of a porous nature to accommodate the throughow of the air,into the interior of the dryer reels. From there, the air is withdrawnaxially from the interiors of the reels. Accordingly, the tendency forthe air to escape axially, prior to passing through the fabric andthrough the surface of the dryer reel is modest, and is easilycontrolled by the air deliecting end caps 49 provided by the invention.In contrast, the air nozzles 39, 44, provided in the inlet passage 38,transfer passage 43, and discharge passage 46, are so directed andarranged that air issuing from these nozzles cannot as readily passthrough the fabric and be disposed of, In this respect, within theinlet, transfer and discharge passages 38, 43, 46, air is directed atthe fabric from both sides thereof, so that the air jets from one sideare generally opposed by air jets from the other side. In thesepassages, there is a much stronger tendency for the air to escapesideways, directly into enlarged end chambers 18, 19.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the sideways flow of airfrom the passages 38, 43, 46 is effectively eliminated by securingplates 63, 64, 65 over the side openings of these passages. The plates63-65 are of a size and shape suitably to substantially fully close offthe side openings of the respective passages, s that the air directedinto the passages is required to escape from the ends thereof,Desirably, in this respect, the passages are somewhat divergent in thedirection of fabric travel, so that air tends to flow toward the fabricdischarge end of the passage.

As a specific but important aspect of the invention, the side plates63-65 are formed of a transparent material, such as glass or transparentplastic material resistant to the service temperature conditions. Inconjunction with this, the side walls of the dryer housing are providedwith suitable observation windows 66 from which an operator may viewacross the enlarged end chamber. The construction is such that, from theobservation windows 66, the progress of the fabric may be observed, fromthe moment it enters the dryer housing substantially until it enters thecooling chamber 48. While the fabric is traveling through the severalpassages 38, 43, 46, it is visible through the transparent side plates63-66, and while it is passing around the dryer reels 16, 17 it isvisible in the narrow circumferential space between the reels and theclosely embracing hot air chambers.

In typical operation of the equipment, it is desirable to continuallyexhaust a fractional portion of the circulated air and to draw in acorresponding amount of fresh air. Typically, of the air circulated `maybe exhausted and replaced by fresh air. In the apparatus of theinvention, the principal fresh air intake advantageously is providedadjacent the intakes to the blowers 30, 31. Additional make-np air mayenter through a pair of ducts 53,

S4, which extend vertically land have their intake openings locatedabove the upper wall 15 of the housing. Some fresh air is drawndownwardly, through the ducts 53, 54, and is discharged therefromthrough openings 55, 56, from which the fresh air flows transverselyinward into the fabric discharge passage 46. This generally inward flowat this point assists in balancing pressures in the passage 46, andassists in maintaining stabilized conditions for the processing ofmultiple webs of fabric.

For the discharge of exhaust air, there are advantageously providedducts S7, 58, which extend vertically in the end chambers 18, 19 and areprovided with upper inlet openings 59, 60 and lower inlet openings 61,62.

The respective sets of openings S9, 60 and 61, 62 are arranged to causerelatively balanced flow of exhaust air into the ducts 57, 58 from theupper and lower portions of the end chambers 18, 19, the air ultimatelybeing discharged to the atmosphere.

The several features of the invention provide advantageous improvementsfor incorporation with the more basic principles of the dryers disclosedin the S. Cohn et al., Patents No. 3,065,551 and No. 3,102,006. In oneaspect, the invention provides a simple and economical arrangement whichpermits the practical, economical utilization of low friction surfacingmaterials on the exterior of the dryer reels. This is accomplished by,instead of seeking to coat the surface of the reel itself, providing afiber glass mesh material which is independently coated with the lowfriction material and subsequently wrapped around and secured to thedryer reel structure. In conjunction, a number of improvements areprovided for the control of air flows within the dryer such that,particularly when handling multiple webs of material on the low frictionsurfacing, the otherwise tendencies for the vwebs to be urged laterally,toward the enlarged end chambers of the dryer housing, are effectivelycounteracted. One specific provision for this purpose resides in the useof small end caps, provided over the end extremities only of thetransversely elongated air nozzles, so that a small percentage of theair ow, at the end extremities, is deflected laterally inward. Inaddition, transparent cover plates are provided over the side openingsof a plurality of fabric passages within the dryer housing, to preventsideways ow of air from these passages while, at the same time, enablingthe fabric to be viewed at all times within the dryer housing throughobservation windows located on the outside walls of the end chambers.

It will be understood, of course, that the specific form of theinvention herein illustrated and described is intended to berepresentative only, as certain changes may be made therein Withoutdeparting from the clear teaching of the disclosure. Accordingly,reference should be made to the following appended claims in determiningthe full scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for drying a fabric web, which comprises (a) a dryerhousing having a fabric inlet and outlet passageway,

(b) a dryer reel having a mesh-like outer wall mounted within saidhousing and arranged to be driven in rotary movement,

(c) said dryer reel being of a width to receive a plurality ofcontinuous lengths of fabric in side-by-side arrangement,

(d) air duct means closely embracing said dryer reel about most of itscircumference,

(e) said air duct means including a plurality of closely spaced,transversely disposed nozzles for the discharge of closely spaceddiscrete streams of air at high velocity radially inward toward andthrough the mesh-like outer wall of the dryer reel,

(f) at least certain ones of said transversely disposed nozzles havingdeector means at the outer ends thereof closing the ends of said nozzlesand operative to deflect a portion of the air streams from the end areasof the dryer reel toward the center area thereof, and

(g) supply means for feeding a fabric web into said housing.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein (a) said housing includes greatlyenlarged end cham bers opposite both axial ends of the dryer reel andhaving an area exceeding the end area of the dryer reel foraccommodating the free and uniform axial ow of air out of the open endsof the dryer reel, and further including (b) blower means connectedbetween said end chambers and said air duct means.

3. The apparatus of claim l, further characterized by (a) said nozzlesinitially being open at the ends, and

(b) said deflector means comprising end caps received over the endextremities of said nozzles,

(c) said end caps closing off the open end areas of said nozzles andhaving a plurality of inwardly directed deflector tabs.

fl. An apparatus for drying fabric webs, which compr1ses (a) a dryerhousing,

(b) cylindrical means in said housing forming a travelling perforatesurface for the support of a plurality of fabric webs in side by siderelation,

(c) air duct means closely embracing the outer surface of saidcylindrical means about most of its circumference,

(d) said air duct means having a plurality of transversely disposedopenings therein for the discharge of discrete streams of air underpressure, radially inward toward and through the perforate surface ofsaid cylindrical means,

(e) deflector means associated with said openings adjacent oppositeedges of said cylindrical means for directing portions of said discretestreams inwardly from said edges, and

(f) means for supplying a plurality of fabric webs to said dryer andonto said cylindrical means in side by side relation.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, further characterized by (a) said housingforming enlarged end chambers beyond the edges of said cylindricalmeans,

(b) a narrow space being formed between said cylindrical means and saidair duct, accommodating a tendency for an edgewise outward flow of airinto said end chambers, and

(c) said dellector means being operative to substantially counteractsaid edgewise How tendency.

6. An apparatus for drying a fabric web, which comprises (a) a dryerhousing,

(b) a fabric supporting element having a metallic mesh-like outer wallmounted within said housing and arranged to be driven to advance fabricthrough the dryer housing,

(c) air duct means closely embracing said supporting element,

(d) said air duct means including a plurality of closely spaced,transversely disposed nozzles for the discharge of closely spaceddiscrete streams of air at high velocity toward and through themesh-like outer wall of the supporting element, and operative to fiutterand rearrange the fabric on said supporting element,

(e) supply means for feeding a fabric web into said housing, and

(f) a mesh-like covering material secured in over-lying relation to saidmetallic Outer wall,

(g) said mesh-like covering comprising a fiber glass mesh coated with afluorocarbon polymer resin.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, further characterized by (a) saidsupporting element being of cylindrical configuration,

(b) the mesh-like outer wall having openings of relatively larger sizecompared to the openings of the mesh-like covering material.

8. An apparatus for drying one or more fabric webs,

which comprises (a) a dryer housing having fabric inlet and outletopenings,

(b) a pair of driven dryer reels, for supporting and advancing fabricwebs during drying thereof, disposed within said dryer housing,

(c) means within said housing forming a first opensided internal passageextending between said dryer reels for the transfer of fabric webs fromone reel to the other,

(d) said internal passage having opposed sets of air nozzles fordirecting air flows towards opposite sides of the fabric in the passage,

(e) said opposed sets of air nozzles being inclined relative to theprincipal plane of the fabric webs in a direction to urge the fabricwebs along in the direction of transfer,

(f) air ow confining plates substantially closing olf the open sides ofsaid first internal passage and spaced inward from the side walls ofsaid housing,

(g) said confining plates being formed of transparent material toaccommodate observation of the condition of the fabric in said firstpassage,

(h) a second internal passage in said housing, similar in function tothe first passage, provided to accommodate and urge the fabric from thefabric inlet to the first dryer reel, and

(i) air flow confining plates, formed of transparent material,substantially closing olf the open sides of said second internal passageand spaced inward from the side walls of the housing.

9. An apparatus for drying one or more fabric webs,

which comprises (a) a dryer housing having fabric inlet and outletopenings,

(b) a pair of driven dryer reels for supporting and advancing fabricwebs during drying thereof disposed within said dryer housing,

(c) means within said housing forming an open-sided internal passageextending between said dryer reels for the transfer of fabric webs fromone reel to the other,

(d) said internal passage having opposed sets of air nozzles fordirecting air flows towards opposite sides of the fabric in the passage,

(e) said opposed sets of air nozzles being inclined relative to theprincipal plane of the fabric webs in a direction to urge the fabricwebs along in the direction of transfer,

(f) air flow confining plates substantially closing off the open sidesof said internal passage and spaced inward from the side walls of saidhousing,

(g) said confining plates being formed of transparent material toaccommodate observation of the condition of fabric in said internalpassage,

(h) said housing having its side walls spaced substantially outward fromthe ends of said reels and from said air flow confining plates toprovide enlarged end chambers, and

(i) said side walls having means therein providing visual access acrosssaid end chambers to said ow confining plates and to the fabric webstravelling over said reels and through said internal passage.

l0. An apparatus for drying a fabrie web, comprising (a) a dryer housinghaving fabric inlet and outlet openings,

(b) a dryer reel having a mesh-like outer wall mounted within saidhousing and arranged to be driven in rotary movement,

(c) means within said housing forming an open-sided internal passageextending between said fabric inlet and said dryer reel,

(d) both of said dryer reel and internal passage being of a width toreceive a plurality of continuous lengths of fabric in side by sidearrangement,

(e) said internal passage having opposed sets of air nozzles fordirecting air ows toward opposite sides of a fabric web in the passage,

(f) said opposed sets of air nozzles being inclined relative to theprincipal plane of the fabric web in a direction to urge the fabric webalong from the fabric inlet to the dryer reel, and

(g) air low confining plates substantially closing off the open sides ofsaid internal passage and spaced inward from the side walls of saidhousing,

(h) said confining plates being formed of transparent material toaccommodate observation of the condition of fabric in said passage.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further characterized by (a) said housinghaving its side walls spaced substantially outward from the ends of saidreel and from said air ow confining plates to provide enlarged endchambers, and

(b) said side walls having means therein providing visual access acrosssaid end chambers to said air ow confining plates and to the fabric webtravelling over said reel and through said internal passage ReferencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS 849,141 4/1907 Ladd 34-115 3,081,556 3/1963Fleissner etal 34-115 3,196,555 7/1965 Friedel etal 34-115 3,290,79512/1966 Jarreby 34-115 LLOYD L. KING, Primary Examiner

